Presented by the Newfoundland's Grand Banks Site to assist you in researching your Family History

These transcriptions may contain human errors. As always, confirm these, as you would any other source material.

A politician often in the soup

By

Bert Riggs,

(an archivist with the Centre for Newfoundland Studies at Memorial University),
whose column, A Backward Glance
appears in the Telegram each Tuesday.

Transcribed From the Telegram

By: Barbara McGrath

Through the years, a number of remarkable individuals from Prince Edward
Island made a contribution to the development and life of Newfoundland.
The first prime minister of Newfoundland, Philip Little (1824-1897), was
from P.E.I. and moved to St. John's in 1844 to practise law. He was later
joined by his brother Joseph (1835-1902), who became chief justice of
the Newfoundland Supreme Court in 1898.

David Smallwood (1839-1928), sawmiller, bootmaker and grandfather of
Joseph R. Smallwood, was also a Prince Edward Islander.

Another was a medical doctor who became quite influential in Newfoundland
politics in the 1920s.

Alexander Campbell was born in Souris, P.E.I., on July 11, 1876, the
son of Angus and Anna Campbell. After graduation from Prince of Wales
College in Charlottetown, he attended McGill University in Montreal, receiving
a doctor of medicine degree.

Medical practice established

Campbell came to Newfoundland in 1902, and set up a medical practice
at Bonne Bay. He moved in 1904 to St. John's, where he established a lucrative
practice. In 1909, he became quarantine officer for the port of St. John's,
a position he would hold until 1925.

Some time after his arrival in St. John's, Campbell met Richard Squires.
It would appear they became fast friends. In 1919, Squires succeeded in
gaining control over the remnants of the Liberal party. He was able to
bring about a coalition with William Coaker and the Fishermen's Protective
Union, and as leader of this Liberal-FPU affiliation, Squires won the
majority of seats in the general election held on Nov. 3, 1919.

Campbell was one of the Liberal candidates in the three-member district
of St. John's West. The others were Squires and Henry Brownrigg, who were
first and second, respectively, in the balloting.

Campbell finished fifth, but he was only 150 votes behind John R. Bennett
in third place. Bennett had represented St. John's West in the House of
Assembly since 1904.

Of the 24 Liberal-FPU members elected, only two were Roman Catholic:
Brownrigg and James MacDonnell, the member for St. George's, who crossed
the floor and joined the opposition shortly after the election, even though
he had been offered a seat in Squires' cabinet.

Brownrigg became minister of finance and customs. In order to redress
the denominational imbalance, Squires appointed Campbell as minister of
agriculture and mines and George Shea, a former mayor of St. John's, as
minister without portfolio. Both were appointed to seats in the legislative
council early in the new year.

Campbell's tenure as minister of agriculture and mines was lacklustre;
there was no major legislation affecting either area in the almost four
years he held the post.

A new election was held May 3, 1923. Campbell resigned from the legislative
council to contest St. John's West once again. He was defeated, but this
time he finished fourth, only four votes behind Squires in third place.

Squires' Liberal-FPU coalition won the majority of seats, and after
the election Squires re-appointed Campbell to cabinet and to the legislative
council. Both during and after the election campaign there had been charges
of misuse of public funds levelled against Campbell. Opposition questioning
of the expenditures of Campbell's department only added to the charges.

On July 23, four cabinet ministers visited Squires and insisted he dismiss
Campbell from Cabinet. When Squires refused, all four resigned. Later
that day, Squires submitted his resignation as prime minister to the governor.
His successor was one of the group of four, Attorney General William Warren,
who appointed Thomas Hollis Walker, a British barrister, to investigate
the charges against Campbell.

Walker delivered his report the following March: he found many instances
of misuse of public funds. Before any action could be brought, Warren
lost a confidence vote in the House, and after the subsequent election
a new administration took office.

While there were indications of wrongdoing on Campbell's part, no charges
were ever laid.

Campbell was not a candidate in the 1924 election. He spent the following
four years practising medicine and raising foxes on the farm he had established
on the western outskirts of St. John's.

In 1928, he returned to the political fray, finally gaining election
to the House of Assembly as a Liberal, supporting a rejuvenated Squires
in St. John's West. He joined Squires' new cabinet as minister without
portfolio.

More trouble

It is said old habits die hard. In February 1932, Finance Minister Peter
Cashin resigned, charging Squires had falsified cabinet minutes, in order
to mislead the governor and cabinet colleagues of his misappropriation
of certain public monies. He further charged Campbell with income-tax
evasion. Cashin's accusations, coupled with the depressed state of the
economy, and a volatile electorate, resulted in the rout of Squires and
his party in that summer's election. Campbell lost badly in St. George's
district, having switched from St. John's West, where he probably would
have been beaten even worse.

It was his last foray into Newfoundland politics.

Campbell married Charlotte McWade of Souris, P.E.I., in 1903. They had
no children. He died in St. John's on May 16, 1940, less than two months
after Squires' own death.

Campbell was Squires' closest political collaborator and friend. He
held a place of confidence in the life of a man otherwise noted as a loner
who seldom took advice.

Amazingly, Squires never abandoned Campbell, sticking by him even though
it meant the loss of the prime ministership in 1923. Perhaps Campbell
knew too much. Together they made quite the pair.

Bert Riggs is an archivist with the Centre for Newfoundland Studies
at Memorial University. ...